They're often the worst kinds of accidents: Two cars head into an intersection, with one of the drivers perhaps running a light or not noticing a stop sign. And the result, too often, is severe injuries or fatalities as one of the vehicles is smacked in the side by another vehicle.

In all, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the federal government, 40 percent of all U.S. vehicle accidents and 20 percent of all fatalities occur at intersections.

If one or both of the vehicles had a little more information about the oncoming danger, either of the drivers could have made a slight change and been unscathed.

Such is the goal of so-called vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) systems that have been in the works for many years. The latest, which Ford Motor Co. [NYSE:F] showed earlier this week, builds on knowledge gathered through its Smart Intersection project, which used wireless communication both between vehicles and intersection-monitoring infrastructure.

Through this project, called Automatic Braking Intersection Collision Avoidance System (ABICAS), drivers get a warning if they're about to run a red light, or if they're rapidly approaching another vehicle at an intersection. Using the vehicle's on-board collision avoidance systems—and harnessing radar and camera systems for a 360-degree view—the V2V system can actually make a judgment call on whether the vehicle will make it safely through or whether there's time to safely stop.

Part of the project is being conducted in Germany, where 400 vehicles are outfitted with ways to collect and log data on driving habits and congestion, construction zones, and driving routes.

According to GM officials, even having less than ten percent of the fleet equipped with V2V transponders—a number achieved by equipping all rental cars or commercial trucks—would produce safety benefits.

The next step, Ford says, is working with government, standards organizations, and other automakers to harmonize standards and develop the most-reliable and lowest-cost solutions. But a limited deployment of these traffic-aware systems probably isn't as many years off as you'd think.